2012 World Series of Poker Europe Day 10: ElkY Finishes with Main Event Day 1b Chip Lead

It was a rare day of the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe on Sunday as only one feature event was running. The Main Event held its Day 1b, and 205 players joined the field to bring the total number of entrants up to 420. Just 115 players survived the day with none other than Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier finishing on top. These players will meet with the 115 that survived Day 1a, and all 230 will see poker action on Day 2.

Like in every tournament here in Cannes during the WSOP Europe, the tables were filled with top poker professionals. Two of those from France had very short days as both Guillaume Darcourt and Roger Hairabedian were eliminated quickly. Hairabedian has no reason to complain, though, as he won Event #3: €5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha and finished third in Event #7: €10,450 Mixed Max — No-Limit Hold'em earlier this week.

Marvin Rettenmaier, John Tabatabai and PokerNews family member Marc Convey also didn't last through the day. The latter made his WSOP Europe debut, but could not get anything going. A turned set ran into Bruno Fitoussi's turned flush, and then Kristijonas Andrulis hit a gutshot straight against Convey's flopped set.

Jon Aguiar and Brandon Cantu played till late Saturday night in the finals of the Mixed Max, and both players entered the Main Event on Day 1b. It didn't work out for either of them, however, and they will get back at it Monday in their heads-up match. You can follow all that action here, which kicks off at 1600 CET (1000 ET).

Arnaud Mattern is a feature at the WSOP Europe every year, and once again he was back showing off his skills. The former EPT Prague winner has cashed in the Main Event in the previous three years, but unfortunately he's not going to add a fourth.

Timothy Adams won the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em — Four-Handed event during the 2012 WSOP, and he had a great starting day. He finished the day with 134,475, and that was a lot more than what his buddy and 2011 WSOP Europe bracelet winner Tristan Wade (33,075) finished with.

Daniel Negreanu was singing and winning on Day 1b as his stack kept rising. After getting Ilan Boujenah to fold a set, he seemed in full control. Later, he busted Brandon Adams with a flush versus a set of eights. Negreanu went on to end the day with 137,500. Negreanu is no stranger to success at the WSOP Europe Main Event. In 2009, he placed second to Barry Shulman for £495,589, and that was just one year after he took fifth for £217,200.

You can have a good day like Negreanu, but that doesn't mean you're going to top Grospellier on the leader board. The French superstar closed out the day with 190,400 and was the day's chip leader. One of the big pots Grospellier won came against Qiang Wang after the two saw a flop of for 3,500 each. Wang, who was in the big blind, put out a bet of 4,500. Grospellier called, and the was put out on the turn. Wang kept the pressure on with a big bet of 14,000, but he couldn't shake the Frenchman. Wang then slowed down on the river, and it was Grospellier's turn to fire to the tune of 17,775. Wang gave it a little thought before making the call, but mucked when Grospellier rolled over the .

Other notable finishers included Daniel Weinman in second on the day with 169,000 and 12-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, who also cracked the top 10 with 116,150.

Compared to last year's 593 entrants, the field of 420 looks a lot smaller on paper. The fact of the matter is that, it is, but numbers are still up from the time of the WSOP Europe Main Event being held in London. With registration now closed for the Main Event, the numbers were tallied. The competitors will all be vying for their share of the €4.032 million prize pool, and the top 48 finishers will earn at least €20,150. Up top is a massive seven-figure payday worth over €1.022 million, and there's quite the star-studded group chasing after the title.

Play will resume Monday at 1200 CET (0600 ET). Make sure to tune back into PokerNews as we bring you all the action from the Majestic Barrieré in Cannes, France.

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